The Sontaran race inDoctor Whofirst appeared way back inThe Time Warrior(1973), aThird Doctor(Jon Pertwee) serial that introduced the race into the show. Since then, the Sontarans have gone on to make a number of re-appearances in both Classic and New Who, helping to flesh their race out and add some interesting lore.
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Some of the Sontaran’s appearances have been better than others, and while rogue Sontarans like Strax have made appearances in lots of episodes, the episodes featuring the Sontarans as a main part of the plot are far few and between. They have also yet to appear in aDoctor Who game, which is silly considering how well they’d translate over.
7The Pandorica Opens
The Pandorica Opensis the penultimate episode of Series 5, featuring just about every race the Doctor has ever faced off against. The episode itself is fantastic, but in terms of Sontarans, it doesn’t really do much for them. It’s a bit more than a Sontaran cameo-likeThe God ComplexandThe Time of the Doctorwere because in this serial they’re an integral part of the plot.
The Sontarans are the ones who reveal to the Doctor that the Alliance was created to keep the universe safe from him, and are instrumental in him being locked away into the Pandorica, despite the universe’s explosion being caused by theTARDIS console room.
6The Two Doctors
The Two Doctorswas a special multi-Doctor story throughout the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker)’s run. Featuring an assortment of criminals that both Doctors have to stop, one of these villains was a Sontaran - Major Varl.
Varl wasn’t the greatest Sontaran, but it did give them a welcome re-appearance after quite a while out of the limelight. He was as typically pettily evil as Sontarans are, and had a nasty death when he was betrayed by one of his co-conspirators Chessene. This serial had both the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and the Sixth Doctor going up against the Sontarans, meaning they’ve fought against almostevery version of the Doctor.
5The Sontaran Experiment
The Sontaran Experimentis a rare two-parter in a time of the show where most serials were at least 4-6 episodes long. In this far-future episode, the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker), Sarah Jane Smith, and Harry Sullivan prevent Field Major Styre from setting up a fully-fledged Sontaran invasion. It’s one of the FourthDoctor’s first episodes.
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An underrated piece, this serial was commissioned purely to capitalize on the costly Sontaran costume developed for their original appearance inThe Time Warrior(1973). The Sontaran Experiment features great scenes with the fandom’s favorite potato men and lots of visually appealing exterior shots; being shot entirely on location.
4The Invasion of Time
The Invasion of Timeis a hugely significant part of both Sontaran and Gallifreyan lore; as it establishes the Sontarans as a credible threat to the Time Lords. The Sontarans arrive on Gallifrey when the Time Lords are exhausted from fighting the Vardans, and very nearly take the planet for themselves.
The Sontarans have never been raised to such heights again. In fact, they were so insignificant by the time of the Time War that they were omitted from the war completely. In this serial, they’re at the height of their power and almost kill Leela, one of thebest Doctor Who companions.
3The Time Warrior
The Time Warriorwas the first appearance of the Sontarans, part of the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) era, and debuting in 1973. This story set in the past sees Commander Linx attempting to repair the ship by kidnapping scientists across different time settings.
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The serial is a great sci-fi-heavy serial that shakes up the format of historical Doctor Who serials and introduced the Sontarans to the show in a compelling way. Linx is aone-off character that should return.
2War of the Sontarans
War of the Sontaransfeatures a return of the old, Classic Who style of Sontarans. With a direct mention to previous Sontaran stories and indirect mentions to others, this story is a breath of fresh air after years of the Sontarans being depicted as funny and friendly through Strax during the Steven Moffat era.
They invade Earth at a moment of complete weakness, using the Flux event to their advantage. This is exactly like them, being a callback to their invasion strategy of Gallifrey back inThe Invasion of Time. Unfortunately, this episode features a couple of annoying scenes of the Sontarans missing every single shot despite supposedly being some of the most dangerous warrior races around.
1The Sontaran Strategem/ The Poison Sky
This two-parter re-introduced the Sontarans into the show after decades of absence, part of the fourth New Who series featuring the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant). The Sontarans are great in this episode, even if they’re not thescariest modern series monster; they are depicted as menacing, comedic, resourceful, and all above all - evil.
They take great fun in wiping out different UNIT soldiers, making it clear to the audience how much they love war. They’re also shown as incredibly resourceful and pretty smart, cloning characters including former companion Martha in order to gain intel on the humans and dismantle them from the inside.
While the two-parter does have cringey war-chanting moments from the Sontarans that most fans weren’t thrilled with, it shows just how well the potato-faced creatures work in the modern iteration of the show and led to a high-stakes, memorable two-parter early on in Series 4.
